​Having been away for a couple of years on a project assignment, I was excited to read your recent article (Feb. 6) to see what had changed on the sustainable energy front in Hawaii — and was a little dismayed to see very little.

Duke Energy is among the U.S. power companies that could benefit most if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down or significantly delays federal mercury standards it now has under review, Sanford C. Bernstein analysts say.

​The California Department of Toxic Substances Control recently announced it would review lead fishing weights for a possible ban under the state's Safer Consumer Products Program. The program's goal is to "reduce toxic chemicals in products consumers buy and use."

"Energy," by definition, is the capability of a system to do work. "Entropy," on the other hand, is a measure of the disorder within a system. In this case, Georgia's economy is the system, and of late there are forces of disorder acting upon it. One such force of disorder goes by several names — The Clean Power Plan, 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, or the "CO2 Rule". By whatever name, this U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule is a fundamentally disruptive force on Georgia's energy future. The rule, as drafted, removes market forces as a primary factor in determining how our industry-leading electricity generation plants are called upon to meet Georgia's energy needs. It also fails to give full credit to Georgia for proactive and forward-looking efforts to diversify our energy mix with clean, zero-emission, and reliable new nuclear generation. Most troubling, the rule amps up requirements for renewable energy and energy efficiency through federal mandates that will cause energy prices to soar. With this rule, the "E" in EPA has gone from "environment" to "energy," effectively and improperly creating a one-size-fits-all federalized energy policy.